Quilting is a popular worldwide pastime. Over the years, the art of quilting has undergone numerous changes. These changes include the use of new and better quilting fabrics, techniques and tools. One type of tool which is extensively used by quilting enthusiasts is the rotary cutter, which includes a rotatable round blade attached to a handle. The rotary cutter can be used to cut multiple fabric pieces out of a sheet of fabric material at the same time. The cut fabric pieces are sewn together in a selected pattern to form the quilt.
One of the drawbacks of using a rotary cutter to cut pieces of fabric from a fabric sheet includes the difficulty of accurately cutting all the fabric pieces to a uniform and exact size as may be required for knitting of a quilt. Therefore, a cutting guide such as a ruler which enables the rotary cutter to cut the fabric in a straight line may be necessary. This procedure requires that the quilter place his or her hand at the center of the ruler, press down as hard as possible and begin cutting the fabric sheet in a straight line along the edge of the ruler using the rotary cutter. Depending on the length of the fabric sheet which is being cut, however, this process may require that the cutting process be periodically stopped as the quilter repositions his or her hand further along the ruler. This repositioning effort may result in inadvertent sliding of the ruler in a sideways motion and consequently, uneven cutting of the fabric sheet. Although it may be possible to trim the cut fabric piece or strip to the desired size using this procedure, it is frequently necessary that the incorrectly-cut pieces be discarded.
Accordingly, a slide lock which holds a sheet of fabric or other material in place against a support surface as the material is cut to ensure that the material is uniformly cut along straight lines is needed.